Current Affairs April 2017

BOOKS & AUTHORS

1. PM releases LS Speaker’s book ‘Matoshree’
=>Prime Minister ‘Narendra Modi’ has released a book ‘Matoshree’ authored by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in New Delhi.The book ‘Matoshree’ covers the life and times of legendary “Devi Ahilyabai Holker’ who ruled the Holkar Empire spread over the Malwa region from 1767 to 1795.

IMPORTANT DATES

2. 12th April: International Day of Human Space Flight
=>The United Nations (UN) celebrates the International Day of Human Space Flight on 12thApril every year.The day remembers the first human space flight by ‘Yuri Gagarin’ on 12th April,1961.

HONORS & AWARDS

3. President Pranab to confer National Geoscience Awards 2016
=>Today, President ‘Pranab Mukherjee’ has confirmed the National Geoscience Awards-2016 at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.The awards include one Award for Excellence, one Young Scientist Award and 19 individual or team awards in 16 fields of geosciences.This year, twenty-seven geoscientists have received the ‘National Geoscience Awards’.

4. National Hindi Sevi Samman Awards announced
=>Director of the Central Hindi Institute, N.K. Pandey has announced the names of 26 writers from different categories for the prestigious ‘Hindi Sevi Samman Award 2015’.The awardees will receive a citation, Rs 5 lakh, and a shawl from President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in May 2017.The ‘Hindi Sevi Samman Awards’ were instituted by Central Hindi Institute, Agra in 1989.

OBITUARIES

5. Former Union Minister ‘Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta’ passes away
=>Former Union Minister and Prominent Educationist ‘Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta’ (56-year) passed away in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), after suffering from a heart attack.He was the son of former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh ‘Late Shri Babu Banarasi Das’.Das was also the member of the Rajya Sabha (RS) for 3 terms (1996 to 2014) and Mayor of Lucknow (May 1993 to Nov. 1996).He was the Union Minister of State for Steel between 2006-2008.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

6. India & Australia sign six agreements
=>The PM ‘Narendra Modi’ and his visiting Australian counterpart ‘Malcolm Turnbull’ have signed six agreements after delegation level talks.The agreements will boost bilateral cooperation in various fields such as terrorism, sports, health, environment, aviation sector.

7. Egypt declares three-month state of emergency
=>President of Egypt ‘Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’ has announced a three-month state of emergency following attacks on two Coptic churches.The measure needs to be approved by the parliament before it is implemented.

8. India & Georgia signed a joint statement on free trade agreement
=>The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia ‘GiorgiGakharia’ and the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry ‘Nirmala Sitharaman’ have signed a Joint Statement on the launching of the Joint Feasibility Study on the bilateral Free Trade Agreement.